The Editor,
So this is it: The very last day of newspaper delivery for us.
The Tri-City News will no longer be issuing any more printed newspapers.
We've had many memorable moments delivering papers with the kids and their friends for the past four years.
We've delivered in the snow, in the rain, in the wildfire hazes, in the fog, in early mornings, in late evenings, in suffocating masks.
We delivered during the very early days of COVID-19 when everyone stayed cooped up at home and kids weren't allowed to even play at playgrounds.
It was a day for us to have a good excuse to go out and walk around the eerily quiet neighbourhood with nobody else out and about.
If there were friends or cousins over, they'd join us.
Along the paper route the kids' friends came out and joined us to do papers if they were at home.
If neighbours were out in their gardens, we'd stop for a little chat.
There was one elderly man who always had candies for the kids. He was often sitting out in his driveway enjoying the weather. The kids looked forward to the "candyman” until one day we never saw him again, and the kids used to ask, "Where is the candyman?" We miss the candyman and I'm sure we all thought of him every time we delivered to his house.
I had a cat that always greeted me at the steps, and the kids had their favourite cat that they looked forward to petting every week.
I loved walking through my neighbours’ yards and admiring their beautiful gardens.
The kids looked forward to the "energy boost" corner, the halfway point, where they got to take a break and have a little snack.
Aithan and Anina were so excited to deliver papers in the beginning, but after just a couple months, it was no longer fun for them any more and they wanted to quit.
It's too tiring, it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too wet.
But I told them that work is not always fun and you can't just quit so easily.
I was thinking to myself that I should have the kids stick it out for at least a year before I let them quit.
But after a year, although they still weren't enjoying it, they weren't asking to quit so I thought we might as well continue with it.
And before we know it, it's been four years. And it's been a fun four years.
Marlene and Michael Tam
